Didsbury CC 1st XI battled towards a losing draw in their first league match of the season against Oxton CC in which the stand out performance of the game was the dominant innings of ex-South Australia cricketer, Glenn Batticciotto.

Wilmslow Road looked a picture under the baking April (!) sunshine and it was no surprise that upon winning the toss, Oxton skipper Jack Smith elected to have a bat. The Oxton openers were making good progress against Didsbury’s Anderson (2-90) and Booth (2-66) bringing up a 50 run partnership until Smith was bowled in the 12th over. This brought Batticciotto to the crease and he looked at ease instantaneously as good balls were milked for singles and the bad balls were duly dispatched to the boundary. There was a reduction in the run rate as the spin combination of Taylor (1-56) and Green (2-44) asserted more control onto proceedings and Green was rewarded with the stumping of opener Gibson for a patient 28 off 63 balls. The next wicket to fall was the first of three run outs in the innings as a Tim Hughes direct hit saw Crick walking back to the pavilion with the score on 170-3. At this point, the innings felt very much in the balance with Batticciotto, who was yet to offer up a chance, the key wicket. Post-drinks break, Didsbury captain Gregson turned to club stalwart Anderson for a breakthrough and when a long hop was mistimed by Batticciotto to Booth at deep mid wicket, this was the golden opportunity that Didsbury had been looking for. Regretfully, the chance was squandered and Batticciotto capitalised on this error by accumulating an additional 54 runs, most of which came in an expensive 2nd spell from Booth, until he was last man out with the score on 280. Despite not being at his best, Anderson toiled in the heat for a deserving two wickets whilst the miserly Taylor was certainly more deserving of his 1 wicket return: his economical 15 over spell was significant in keeping Oxton’s total below 300. In addition, Steve Green challenged the outside edge on numerous occasions and Didsbury’s ground fielding improved as the innings went on with 3 wickets coming from a run out.

A target of 281 in 50 overs was certainly going to provide a stiff challenge for a Didsbury batting line up that are, perhaps, lacking in a bit of confidence from the previous season. However, a flat pitch and a fast outfield meant that it was by no means an impossible task. The innings got off to the worst possible start when Anderson clipped a leg side half volley to Gibson at square leg who surely pulled off the best catch of his career as he dived one handed to his right and clung on. This brought Green to the crease and both himself and Hughes looked in good touch as the ball was cut and driven to the boundary fence. Indeed, Green had confidently dispatched Stenhouse for two consecutive boundaries before he spooned one to cover leaving Didsbury 27-2. With the heat showing no sign of relenting, 18 year old Tasmanian, Jed Steele, mustn’t have felt too far out of his comfort zone as he came to the wicket for his first competitive innings in the UK. Together, him and Hughes built a mini partnership before Hughes, who had started to get frustrated in the slight stalling of his scoring, was caught at mid on off the bowling of the metronomic Stenhouse (3-57). Steele continued to bat positively with almost 90% of his runs coming from boundaries before he was bowled for 32: a fair effort on debut. Leech joined Kamstra at the crease but did not last long and Kamstra soon followed leaving Didsbury staring down the barrel at 105-6. Déjà vu, anyone? However, a 78 run partnership between under 19 player Khan and the captain, Gregson, was pivotal in ensuring that Didsbury took something out of the game. Both batsman, naturally aggressive, restrained their instincts and batted patiently against the testing spin of Ali Crick who had accounted for the previous two wickets to fall. Gregson then accelerated and started to flay the ball to the fence on a regular basis and by the fall of his wicket, had hit 10 4’s and 2 6’s in a total of 66: a true ‘captain’s innings’ considering the circumstance. At 183-7, Oxton must have felt confident of wrapping the innings up but what they would not have accounted for was the talent of 14 year old Basil Sultan, who was making his 1st XI debut and was, no doubt, keen to make an impression. Khan fell quickly into the partnership for a really mature and important innings of 15 as he succumbed LBW to Crick and at 188-8, you could be forgiven for thinking that the writing was on the wall. However, Sultan and Booth, keen to make some amends for his crucial dropped catch, kept the Oxton bowlers at bay until the 47th over when Sultan was bowled for an outstanding innings of 34. The Lancashire youth player displayed a maturity beyond his years whilst his obvious talent shone in the form of some classy shot making. A nervy final two overs awaited Booth and Taylor but these were played out without incident and the match was drawn with Oxton taking 15 points and Didsbury 9.

Reflecting upon the game, the difference between the two sides was the obvious quality of Batticciotto who will surely top the batting charts in Division One this season. Nevertheless, the need for tighter bowling up front, more urgency and awareness in the field as well as more patience from the top 5 batsman will be heightened as Didsbury travel to fellow promotion hopefuls Bowdon next week.

The players would like to thank the ground staff for their hard work this week in preparing a fantastic pitch and outfield as well as Adam Slater for scoring. In addition, they would also like to thank those that came down to support the team who were no doubt enticed most by the lure of quality cricket and definitely not the glorious weather, refurbished bar and splendid BBQ food!!